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Women are Changemakers: Community insights & artwork from the 2017-2018 collaborative art project

In 2017/2018 WHAI partnered with consultants at 7.10 Stories to explorecreative ways to foster WHAI’s Coordinated Collective Impact Initiative(CCII) work being done across Ontario. This CCII work is grounded throughseven (7) priority areas of focus identified by communities in the province.These include: Women and Harm Reduction; Gender Based Violence;Stigma, Discrimination and Institutional Violence; HIV Disclosure; Communityand Emotional Wellness; Economic Insecurity; and Health Care Centred onWomen’s Needs and Lived Experiences.Using a framework of narrative storytelling, a collaborative art project wasinitiated that included a community engagement tool, an implementationplan and the development of two (2) resources to share messages emergingfrom the collective artwork. In keeping with WHAI’s CCII work and sevenareas of focus, the project aimed to:Center the experiences and knowledge of women, communities andorganizations in relation to WHAI’s priority areas of focus and offercreative methods of engagement, expression and dialogue;Share women’s voices with larger communities using an intersectionaland creative lens;Demonstrate the connectedness of women’s communities across theprovince and to further positive change through collective local action; andBuild a supportive space for communities to engage in CCII work with self,peers, service providers and organizations through creative representation.